Pneumatic train signaling apparatus



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. W. CHAINE. PNBUMATIC TRAIN SIGNALING MPARATUS. No. 462,239.

Patente-d Nov.3,1891.

INVENTOR we uenms ruins co., mum-urne.. wwmcwu, nA c.

Y (No Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. W. GRA-INE.

PNEUMATIG TRAIN SIGNALING APPARATUS.

Patented Nov. 1891.

INVENTOR mmiiiim "Humm" UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE EDVIN IV. ORAINE, OF MISSOURI VALLEY, IO\VA.

PNEUMATIC TRAIN SIGNALING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,239, dated November 3, 1891.

Application filed April 17, 1891. Serial No. 389,307. (No model.)

.To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN W. CRAINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Missouri V alley, :in the county of Harrison and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Train Signaling Apparatus; and I do declare the following to be a full; clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to devices for signaling from any part of a railroad-train to the engineer.

The object of my invention is to relieve the air-brake system vof the drain upon it caused by the ordinary pneumatic signal, and to provide an apparatus which is operative on trains or engines not provided with air-brake appliances.

My invention comprises an air-pump on each car, communicating by branches with a main pipe running the length of the train, with flexible coupled sections between the cars, aiiexible hose extending from the forward end of the main pipe to the cab of the engine, and a whistle attached to the end of the hose.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of my airpump. Fig. 2 is plan view of the connections with the whistle. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the reversing-valve, and Fig. 4 is a modification.

The air-pump can be located at any convenient part of the car; but I prefer to place it'on the roof A, inclosed in a suitable case B. The pump comprises a cylinder C, in which is a packed piston D, secured to a piston-rod E, which projects through one head of the piston and is provided with a conical head e. In the opposite head of the cylinder is an airinlet port o, provided with an inwardly-opening check-valve F. `In this head also is an outlet-port c', which has an outwardly-opening valve F. rlhe piston is normally kept at the inner end of its stroke by a strong helical spring G, one end of which abuts against the piston and the other end against the head of the cylinder. IVhen the piston-rod is drawn out, compressing the spring, air is drawn into the cylinder through the port c. Upon releasing the piston-rod the spring drives the piston back again, forcing the air out through the port c. Openings c2 in the cylinder or its head permit the air to escape from or enter freely behind the piston.

To pull the piston-rod out, I provide a grapple II, resembling a pair of tongs or nip-I pers and adapted to engage with or release the head e of the rod. I prefer the construction shown, wherein two hooked levers or dogs 7L are pivoted to a cross-head 7L', the tails of the dogs being thrown apart by a light spiral spring, so that their jaws tend to close upon the head e. The cross-head slides between parallel guides I, to the outer ends of which is fastened a cup K, concentric with the cylinder. In the center of the cup is a hole, through which a rod or cord can be passed'to connect with the grapple II. One or more light springs 7b2 are attached to the crosshead and tend to keep it normally near the head of the cylinder O. Vhen it is pulled outwardly, it carries the piston-rod with it until the tails of the dogs strike the inside of the cup K, the inclined surface of whichcauses them to shut together, as shown in dotted lines, thereby opening the jaws of the grapple and releasing the piston-rod, which is immediately driven back by therspring G.

The cord L for operating the grapple runs through the car to a iixed fastening at one or both ends thereof. When the pump is placed inside the car or in the closet, one end of the cord is attached directly to the grapple. The pump is operated by pulling on the cord; but when the pump is on the roof an intermediate connection becomes necessary to transmit the pull on the cord to the grapple. This may be done by running the cord around suitable sheaves M, as shown in Fig. 5. I prefer, however, the arrangement shown in Fig. l. An arm N projects from the upper guide I beyond the cap K, and in a slot n in said arm is loosely pivoted a hanger O, the lower end of which is pivoted to a rod P, which passes through the cap K and is connected with the cross-head. A lever Q also is pivoted to the end of the hanger O by ajointwhich permits it to bend in one direction only-viz., toward IOO lo nected by link s with the lever Q. The spring thus acts to hold the lever in the position in which it appears in fulllines in Fig. 1. When the cord L is pulled in the direction ofthe arrow 0c, the lever Q, hanger O, rod s, and link s', assume the position l l l, and impart the requisite movement to the rod P to operate the pump. The hanger here forms practic-ally apart of the lever with its fulcruin at the slot in the arm N. Should the cord be pulled in the opposite direction, (indicated by the arrow 00,) then thelever Q fulcrums on the link s and assumes the position 2 2 2, which gives the proper movement to the rod P.

Incase a car not equipped with my airpump should be in the train a cord can be run from said car into one having this arrangement of pump and operating devices, and Whether the unequip-ped car is in front or behind the-pump can be readily Worked.

The air forced out by the pump through the port c is conveyed through a branch pipe to the main pipe T, which runs along the car from. end to end, preferably on' the roof. At the junction of the branch and main pipe a T-coupling-T is used, in the upper side of which is a slot t. A slide U covers the slot, the latter serving to receive and guide a lug n, depending from the inner surface of the slide. The casing B may be arranged to cover to the T-coupling and adjacentpipe T. A iiapvalve V is hinged to said lug and is arranged to close one of the pipes T, projecting into the couplingT, and thereby prevents the air from enteringit. With the valve set as shown the Y air can flow in one direction only through the main pipe, as indicated by the arrow. Air

coming from a car behind can lift the valve V and pass on. Vhen the car runs the other end first, the valve V is reversed b y shifting 5o the slide U, so that the valve hangs on the other side of the branch pipe tand against the other section of the pipe T. A lever W, pivoted to the slide U and extending down into the car, is a convenient means for reversing the valve.

The main pipes T are united between the cars by flexible hose and detachable couplings. From the front end of the main pipe T a flexible hose T2 extends over the tender to the engine-cab, where it is provided with a whistle t2, which can be hung on a hook in the cab. This enables me to use my signal on any locomotive, since the apparatus is complete in itself. I

Whenever it is necessary to change engines, the whistle is unhooked in the cab and the hose T2 thrown back on the platform of the forward car until the fresh engine is coupled on, when it can be led into the cab and hooked up again as. before.

In order to maintain the continuity of the pipe T when an unequipp'ed car is made a part of the train, every train should carry one or more lengths of flexible hose long enough to reach over the unequipped car and provided with suitable couplings to connect With 'the pipes on' the adjacent cars. The hose can be detachably secured to the car by clamps. 'f Y The main pipe T may be used as a speaking-tube by the conductor' or other train-men to carry on conversations with the engineer. A special flexible tube furnished Witha mouthpiece for this purpose may be connected with the pipe forward of the pump in the baggagecar or elsewhere.

It should be remarked that the lever can be used when the pump is located inside of the car or in the closet, being arranged With its end in line with the cord-hangers. The lever enables a strong spring to be used in the pump, whereby a quick action of thep-iston is obtained.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A pneumatic signaling system for a railway-train, comprising an air-pump on one or more of the cars, a main pipe connected with each pump by av branch pipe, a check-valve in the main pipe adjacent to each branch IOO pipe, a flexible hose attached tothe forward each pump by a branch pipe, a check-valve in the main pipe adjacent to each branch pipe, a iiexible hose attached to the forward end of the main pipe, and a whistle secured to the end of the hose and removably fastened to the cab, whereby several locomotives may be successively used with the same signaling apparatus, substantially as described.

3. AThe combination, with a railway-car, of a cylinder having anvair-inlet provided with an inwardly-opening valve, an Aair-outlet controlled by an outwardlyopening valve, a branch pipe communicating with said outlet, a main pipe connected with the branch and with a signaling apparatus, a piston in said cylinder, a piston-rod forr moving the piston in one direction to lill the cylinder with air, and ahelical spring to drive the piston in the other direction to expel the air through the branch pipe, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a railway-car, of an air-pump cylinder and piston, a spring for forcing the piston toward one end of the cylinder, a movable grapple engaging automatically with the piston-rod, means for moving said grapple to draw out the piston-rod and IIO compress the spring, and a retracting device to return the grapple to its normal position, substantially as described.

5. The combination, With an air-pump and piston, of a spring for driving piston to expel the air, a movable grapple engaging automatically with the piston-rod, means for moving the grapple to compress the spring, a releasing device to detach the grapple from the rod when the spring is compressed, and a retracting device to return the grapple to its normal position, substantially as described.

6. rl`he combination, with an air-pump cylinder and piston, of a cross-head movable on suitable guides, a pair of hooked dogs pivoted to said cross-head and adapted to engage with the piston-rod, a cam against which the dogs strike at the outer end of their stroke and whereby they are disengaged from the pistonrod, a spring adapted to drive the piston back upon the release of the pistou-rod, and a retracting device to return the cross-head to its normal position, wherein the dogs are again engaged with the piston-rod,substantially as described.4

7. The combination, with a cylinder provided With suitable inlet and outlet ports, of the piston and its rod, the helical spring acting on the piston, the cross-head sliding in guides and carrying the pivoted dogs adapted to engage with the piston-rod, the cup into which the tails of the dogs are forced at the 4 outer end of their stroke, the springs for returning the cross-head to its normal position,

`and means for operating the Vcross-head, subable grapple adapted to automatically engage with the piston-rod at one end of its stroke, means for automatically disengaging the grapple at the other end of its stroke, and a cord attached at one end to the car-body and having its other end connected with the grapple, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with a railway-car, of an air-pump having a spring-actuated piston, a movable grapple adapted to engage with the piston-rod, a lever connected with the grapple and having two fulcrums,wherebyit is adapted to actuate the grapple when moved either way from its normal position, substantially as described.

10. The combinatiomwith a railway-car, of an air-pump having a spring-actuated piston, a movable grapple adapted to engage with the piston-rod, aslotted arm, a hanger pivoted in the slot at one end and connected with the- 1l. The combination, with an air-pump and a main air-pipe connected therewith by a branch, of a reversible check-valve located at the junction of the main and branch pipes, v

whereby the air delivered from the pump can be caused to fiow in either direction through the main pipe, substantially as described.

12. The combination, with the sections of the main air-pipe and the branch united by a T-coupling, of the slide having a lug projecting through a slot in the coupling and a, 

